The Site Administrator of the website www.nswfreedomofinformation.net Telina Webb has today received a letter from a Sydney Law Firm stating it acts for Goulburn Mulwaree Council, threatening an action in defamation against her and demanding monies for alleged legal fees.

The letter is headed Not for Publication.

Clearly the hope was the matter could be kept nice and quiet, with the letter intended to be sufficient to coerce Ms Webb to remove certain referenced publications from the website. 

The letter states  “We act for the Goulburn Mulwaree Council”.  

Although it stated Council was the client, the content made repeated reference to Council’s Manager Governance Ms Maria Timothy and her colleague Right to Information Officer Ms Amanda Keegan.

Both women are claiming their feelings have been hurt by a number of Ms Webb’s publications, articles which report her perspective on the way Council has responded to her valid access applications.

The letter did not state it was a Concerns Notice, and there was no Statement of Claim attached in accordance with the Defamation Act 2005.

Any reasonable person would have perceived the letter as credible, relevant, and in full accordance with the legislation.
It was none of those.

All-in-all the letter is considered completely defective and in breach of a number of clauses of the Defamation Act 2005, a very poor example of publicly-funded legal skill and knowledge.

The letter also falsely asserted the Council contact details of Ms’ Timothy and Keegan to be personal in nature and that on that basis should not be made public.

Both Council employees, and indeed the representative solicitor on this issue Norman Lucas, are expected to be fluent in the current freedom of information legislation, the GIPA Act 2009, which clearly states under Schedule 4, 4, 3(b) agency contact details which do nothing more than confirm a person’s name, title, position, and employer, is disqualified from being classified as personal in nature.  This means it is public information.

There is so much wrong with this matter and the way it has been conducted thus far.

In particular, Council’s confirmation it has, that is Goulburn Mulwaree Shire Council has, covered the demanded legal fees.

It is also concerning the letter stated “We act for the Goulburn Mulwaree Council”, when Councils are disqualified from bringing any cause of defamation.

“Seriously?  Their feelings are hurt?  Surely these well-paid government employees have thicker skin than that!  They deal with the public, process complaints, and are accountable for any questionable conduct or the manner in which they exercise statutory functions as a public service.

Unfortunately what has become evident with this letter today is, these government employees want all the privilege and power to make decisions which often frustrate the public and obstruct fundamental legislated rights, but if any member of the public dares to question that or call it out for what it is there is a target on their back," stated Ms Webb.

I intend to lodge an access application to ascertain whether or not Council did actually pay the bill for this one, and I’d like to know who authorised it.  Whoever approved the funds needs to be educated about the Defamation Act 2005 before allowing employees to jump straight into legal matters, using public monies for personal agenda.

I would also question the professional capabilities of the law firm's Norman Lucas, who appears to lack fundamental statutory interpretation skills.  This is definitely a matter of public interest.”
Ms Webb intends to exercise her rights under the Defamation Act 2005 in reply.

The letter of today’s date is available here.
Contact:

Norman Lucas, (02) 9291 6177
E:  normal.lucal@maddocks.com.au
Maria TimothyE:  maria.timothy@goulburn.nsw.gov.au
Amanda KeeganE:  amanda.keegan@goulburn.nsw.gov.au